


Kittens 'N Cream

by Kuronyans



Category: Subarashiki Kono Sekai | The World Ends With You
Genre: AU Fic, AU where Joshua is just normal for once, AU where everyone is friends with Beat except Neku, AU where neku works at an ice cream store, Fluff I guess, M/M, No beta we die like neku, au where no one dies, idk what this is, in a back alley at 4am
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-15
Updated: 2020-07-15
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:00:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25275085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kuronyans/pseuds/Kuronyans
Summary: Beat goes to an ice cream store and falls in love with the cute guy behind the counter. Also, he absolutely cannot stand ice cream.
Relationships: Bito "Beat" Daisukenojo/Sakuraba Neku
Comments: 3
Kudos: 34





	Kittens 'N Cream

**Author's Note:**

> Listen, I loved the idea of this and was so happy with the feedback I got on my last fic so I quickly churned out whatever this is, I've never written a fully fluff fic in my LIFE and every day I spent on this I felt even worse about it. SO I rushed the ending and now its going on the internet. I may make small edits later on to make everything flow nicer if ao3 allows that? I dunno Read at your own risk ig.

Keeping on top of the trends in Shibuya was a constant struggle for many. Fads came and went again almost as soon as they arrived, people moved from one thing to the next all too quickly. It was really hard to keep up, especially if you didn't happen to like the newest big thing. You had to choose between feeling left out entirely, or trying to fake your love for something in earnest. Beat had never really understood this dilemma, though. Even less so right now. 

A new ice cream parlour had opened up in the city, owned by some huge, famous corporation, and everyone wanted to be there. There'd been TV advertisements, massive billboards and so much news coverage in the weeks prior to it's opening that you'd have a hard time believing it was just an ice cream place. Apparently some dude named The Prince had F'd the place on his blog, whatever that meant, causing it to explode in popularity even more. Beat just didn't get it. Not just because this place had the wildest flavours imaginable (like, really? Seaweed flavour? People like that?), but also because there was nothing in the world that he could think of that could possibly be more repulsive than ice cream. All that sugar... All that cold... It made his teeth hurt just thinking about it.

But of course, that was an extremely unpopular opinion. Most people did in fact enjoy ice cream, Beat's younger sister being one of them. Rhyme had seen the flashy TV ad the night before and, eyes lit up in awe, had begged their parents to take her the following day so she could try it. They'd agreed without checking their schedules. A mistake on their part, since they both had to work until late, and instead of agreeing to take her another day, Beat had been rudely awoken at 11 am by his mother announcing that she would be cutting off his allowance unless he took Rhyme to the new ice cream place that day. It wasn't like Beat would've minded going. It's not like he had to eat anything. Being forced made him not want to though. 

He wanted to do it even less when they arrived in the city to find a line wrapped around the block. Was it really that serious? People were willing to wait up to an hour? Beat couldn't think of a time in his life when he'd ever willingly waited an hour for anything.

"Oh my gosh..." Rhyme seemed just as shocked as he was, taking in a breath when she spotted the mass of people.

"Well, guess we gotta line up," Beat said without much enthusiasm. He began to head over to where he assumed the back of the line would be, but he felt a hand grab onto his arm. Rhyme looked up at him with apologetic eyes.

"We don't have to go. I'm not gonna make you wait for something when only I'll enjoy it. I'll tell Mom we went in so don't worry."

"I mean, 's not like I mind waitin' if you really wanna go..." And he really didn't. Of course he didn't. Seeing Rhyme happy meant the world to him. 

"It's totally fine!" She smiled reassuringly and let go of his arm. "This place is just a fad anyways. It'll die off in a week or two. There's bound to be other places, we could always go to one of those!"

In the back of his mind, Beat felt incredibly relieved. He couldn't stop the slight smile that pulled at his lips. "Guess you're right. You know a place?"

"I think there used to be a place near here! Follow me!" She turned on her heels and began to skip down the street. Always cheerful no matter the circumstances... That was Rhyme. Beat admired her for that. He couldn't say he was the same. If he'd had to wait in that line, even if he didn't really mind deep down, he probably wouldn't have been nearly as chipper upon leaving.

Beat followed Rhyme at a considerably slower pace as she continued her merriment through the streets of the city. They passed countless people, hearing bits of conversations as they did so.

'Did you read The Prince's new blog post...'

'I heard there's live music...'

'That old place is done...'

"Beat! I found it!" Rhyme had stopped in her tracks before a building, minuscule in comparison to the average size of the stores in Shibuya. Frosted glass panels were in place of regular walls on the front, allowing anyone passing by to peer at the gaudy, yellow decor inside. A sign atop the door read 'Kittens 'N Cream'. Beat thought the name didn't suit the place. Too cutesy. It wasn't like it was a cat café, and the only cat themed decorations he could see were two little paw print marks on the sign. 

Well, at least this place would be within his budget. As Beat caught up to her, Rhyme pushed the door open and called out a greeting. A bell chimed sweetly overhead. Somehow the inside of the shop was even smaller than it seemed from the outside. No seating could be found, with only enough space for around five people to line up. A bored looking boy, around Beat's age, sat behind the counter. It seemed as though he'd been messing with a radio prior to the pair walking in, but he startled and sprang to his feet upon hearing the bell. 

"Hello, how can I help you?"

Holy. Hell. Beat hoped to whatever gods might be out there and listening that he wasn't making a stupid face there, but wow. This boy was stupidly cute. It shouldn't have been possible to be so cute. Despite how clear it was that he'd rather be anywhere else, his dark blue eyes seemed to shine in the dim lighting of the shop. A mess of spiky hair framed his face in a way that appeared perfect to Beat. Even if it was obvious the boy needed to trim it a little. The way it fell on top of his head reminded him of a cat's ears. 

"Hello! One strawberry ice cream, please!"

The boy nodded to Rhyme's request. For a moment his eyes fell on Beat. His heart skipped. This boy was shorter than him, standing at around 163cm, but he still seemed the type to be sharp-tongued. Beat could picture it. How utterly, offensively adorable. Suddenly the sign outside made a lot more sense. Even down to the colour of his hair... Was that even natural...?

"And what would you like, sir?"

"Orange."

Wait. He didn't mean to say that. 

The boy's face twisted into a slightly troubled smile. "Um... Do you mean the orange sorbet...? Or the chocolate orange?"

"What? I, no I didn't mean- uh-" Beat took a deep breath and closed his eyes as tried to regain control of his own thoughts. It would be far too embarrassing to say he didn't want anything at this point. Even Rhyme was giving him a strange look. He needed to choose. "Meant the chocolate orange. Sorry."

Server boy forced a polite laugh. "That's not a problem, sir. Comin' right up."

Beat took a moment to steal a glance at his name tag as he went to work. 'Neku,' huh? Man, even his name was cute and cat-like. That felt decidedly unfair. He tried not to think about that, or how close they came to brushing hands, as he was handed his cone. Key word being: tried. He absolutely did not succeed, and when he exited the small shop he could feel his brain short-circuiting. 

Rhyme shot him a slightly judgemental glance. "You don't like ice cream. Or oranges. What gives?"

"'Course I do," Beat replied simply, and he took a huge bite.

His eyes watered instantly. Sweet. Sticky. Absolutely disgusting and too. Goddamn. Cold. Beat choked as he tried to keep it all down. Who's idea was it to put orange in ice cream anyway?

-

Hugging his pillow close to his chest, Beat rolled over to check the clock on his bedside table. Midnight... Perhaps now would be a good time to stop. The night had been spent deep in focus as he researched and took mental notes, and now his brain ached. But it was worth it. Beat felt a lot better about his situation now. As the credits rolled on his fifth romance movie of the night, he tried to think through everything he had learned.

One: what he experienced had been the famed 'love at first sight.' He couldn't describe it in any other way. The instant attraction. The way that, even as he lay there, he could picture Neku's face. His shocked expression when he heard the chime of the bell. How cute he'd looked. It just had to be, even if all of the movies insisted that it didn't happen in real life. Beat was in love. He'd seen the boy once. Love at first sight.

Two: he now had to try and figure out a way to win Neku over, although he didn't exactly know how that would work. None of the movies had given any advice on how to win over a boy when you yourself are a boy, and he had a feeling that over-dramatic flirting or getting a makeover just wouldn't cut it. Those ideas seemed too embarrassing anyways. He had no idea how the female leads he'd been watching could possibly have managed. 

Three: there was always a side-character who ended up friend-zoned, forever heartbroken with no resolution. If he didn't work fast, that could be Beat. That notion didn't exactly mix well with his lack of any ideas on what to do next. But he didn't let it panic him. It was still the beginning part of the movie for him, which left him with plenty of time to think up some kind of plan. No rush.

...But maybe he wanted to rush, just a tiny bit. Seriously, Neku was a person who handled ice cream all day. What if his hands were cold? Cold hands aren't very comfortable at all, all numb and hard to work properly. Hence why Beat couldn't afford to just sit by and wait while he formed a plan. Neku's hands would be warm again if he could hold them. It was a very important and noble cause.

With his newfound resolve, Beat snatched his phone from the bedside table and flipped it open, scrolling over to his contacts list. Surely one of his friends would be able to give him some worthwhile advice. Even though he knew some would laugh at him, and others would just hang up thinking it was a prank. There had to be someone he knew that was well informed about this sort of thing.

A particular name became highlighted and he paused, thumb hovering over the down arrow. Shiki... She had a girlfriend. They'd been together for a couple of months and all seemed well between them. Beat often saw them together in the shopping malls of the city, walking hand-in-hand and idly chatting away. They were happy. Surely Shiki would know something then. It was the perfect plan, he thought as he hit the call button.

A very tired-sounding girl picked up the phone. "Beat? I was just about to go to sleep why-"

"Shiki! Listen, man, I'm really freakin' out, please can you help me with somethin'?"

"Wait, of course I can. What's wrong?" Her tone changed to one of concern right away, unbothered by the fact that she'd been cut off without even a greeting. Feeling grateful, Beat took in a breath and steeled himself, clutching his pillow to his chest like a lifeline. 

"I'm in love."

He heard a theatrical gasp from the other end of the line, followed by an, "Oh my gosh, Beat!!! Wait, who is he? What's his name?! Does he go to our school?! Is he pretty?!!!"

"His name's Neku! I dunno what school he's from, but yeah he's pretty as hell! And I love him!!!" His voice only raised to a little above a whisper, but had he been alone in the house he'd have been shouting at the top of his lungs. He could feel Shiki's excitement even on the other end of a call, and it only sought to further his own. "Listen, Shiki, ya gotta help me, man. You been with Eri for a while, right? How'd you do it?"

"I am more than happy to help you, don't worry. I'll get you the boy of your dreams. Now, how far have you gotten? Made any moves yet?"

"We only met today. That gonna make a difference?"

"Oh no, that's totally fine! I've read that it's actually easier to date people when you barely know them. Y'know, like blind dates? Those are so popular right now."

Beat hummed in agreement. He didn't know what she was talking about. 

"You just gotta let him know you're interested! You could try complimenting him or something next time you see him. I'm sure if he's pretty there's lots of things you could mention. Don't go overboard, though, obviously."

He ruminated on this for a moment. There were indeed lots of things about Neku he could say nice things about. It was hard to pinpoint something he'd be willing to say out loud though. Any one of the many kitten-Neku comparisons his brain made would be enough to send the poor guy running for the hills. After all, they had been acquaintances for all of five minutes. It would be really weird to suddenly be all, 'oh by the way. You're so short it's adorable.' 

"Anyways! Look, it's really late. I could use some sleep. I have summer school tomorrow and all. I'm happy for you though! Really! I'm glad you could meet someone. You deserve it."

"Aw, really?" He snickered.

"I mean it!"

Beat felt a wave of contentment wash over him. Since no one could see the goofy smile on his face, he didn't bother trying to hide it. Shiki always knew how to make him feel better. 

The two said their goodbyes and hung up the phone. Beat threw himself face first into the mattress and rolled over until he faced the TV again, phone clattering to the floor noisily. He'd pick it up later. The menu screen for the DVD he'd been watching played on a loop, with images of the lead couple at different points in the movie flashing before his eyes. He'd enjoyed watching it. It was a happy movie, and Beat understood now. Falling in love was an enjoyable feeling. He fell asleep like that, smiling softly into the pillow between his arms, dreaming of cute boys and kittens and sickeningly sweet desserts.

-

It's pretty difficult to find entertainment when you're stuck behind a counter from eight in the morning 'til four in the afternoon, with nothing but a radio, some ice cream you aren't allowed to touch and your shoddy old phone to keep you company. As much as he hated them pretty much all of the time, at least there would usually be a stream of customers to keep Neku company. Even that distraction had been lost this week, though. In the past three days he'd been working, Neku had seen a grand total of five people. A couple of older folks who'd lamented about 'these kids and their fads,' an American tourist who'd clearly gotten the wrong place (Neku never bothered to correct her), and... well. A strange pair to say the least.

As he absentmindedly fiddled with the dials on the radio, Neku found his mind wandering away, back to the weirdo kid from yesterday who'd ordered simply 'orange.' The girl who had been with him, presumably a relative, hadn't been anything out of the ordinary. But him... The way he stared had put Neku on edge. Dude couldn't have been much older than himself, but was freakishly tall (or maybe Neku was just freakishly short) and had muscles rivalling those of a professional boxer (or maybe Neku was just horribly scrawny). In any other situation Neku would've thought he was nice to look at, but the cold, hard stare of the other boy just felt intimidating.

He continued to spin the dials on the radio, hoping to maybe find a frequency playing something worthwhile. A hopeless endeavour to be sure but he really did have nothing better to do. He didn't feel like daydreaming about threatening, tall guys anymore. Taking a nap seemed like a better idea than ever. He checked the clock. Lunchtime. No one would come in any time soon. Everyone would be lining up for that new place, or already eating somewhere that served actual food. If no one came in then maybe it was okay to-

He didn't get to finish that thought. The door slammed open. The whole store seemed to shake with the force. The ugly clanging sound of the abused bell rang out. Neku jumped to his feet, nearly knocking his chair over. There, in the doorway, stood none other than the tall idiot boy from yesterday, red-faced and panting as if he'd just sprinted a mile. He looked up and made eye-contact, his gaze so intense Neku couldn't find it in him to put on his usual customer service smile. As the boy stomped towards the counter, he could only utter out, "hello, how can I-"

"You!!" The boy yelled, screwing his eyes shut and clenching his fists. "I-I like your shirt!!!"

Neku could do no other than let his eyes fall down to what he was wearing, and then pull them back up in confusion. Was this kid on something?

"Uh, it's a uniform," he laughed nervously and put a hand up to pull at some loose strands of his hair. "Do you mean you wanna work here...? I can get you an application from the back? If you want?"

No answer came and the boy took another step towards the counter. Neku took one back instinctively. He didn't know this guy. He didn't know what he wanted and he was too tall. Nothing good could come from this. 

But then the boy rubbed the back of his head and flashed a sheepish grin, "oh, I- Naw I don't wanna work here. Sorry. I'll jus' take an ice cream. Cookie dough if ya got that."

This confirmed Neku's earlier suspicions. Whoever this guy was, he was a total weirdo. He nodded in response to the request and set to work, hoping maybe if he kept his mouth shut then the strange guy wouldn't try to make conversation. That was wishful thinking, of course.

"So... It's Neku, huh? Tha's a nice name. I like it. You can call me Beat."

He made a noise by way of replying, hoping it sounded enough like something that could be construed as agreement. Not many people in Shibuya named Beat. It likely wasn't his real name, but that didn't matter. It was enough to make him the first blacklisted customer of Kittens 'N Cream. 

It felt as though Beat was eyeing up his hands as he worked, and the thought made Neku self-conscious. He didn't want to mess up something so simple, something he was being paid to do, but he felt like he was being scrutinised here. Mercifully, Beat looked up whenever he made an attempt to converse, giving Neku time to do what was needed.

"Uh... Slow day, huh? Must be hard wit' the new place downtown."

"Yep," Neku replied as he handed the cone over the counter, making a point to pop the 'p' on the end of the word. He'd hoped it would be some indication that he didn't want to talk, but as Beat took his ice cream, strangely grasping it with two hands, he made no move to leave. His face was flushed. Weird. It wasn't exactly cold in there.

"I- Uh. You- Your h-"

A bell chimed at the front of the store, causing both boys to startle and Beat to lose his train of thought. Neku had never been more relieved to see a customer in his life. He put on his best smile.

"Hi! What can I get for you today, miss?"

He made a point to start up a friendly chat with the teenage customer, asking about her day and the like. Not only would it make her more likely to leave a tip, but it also meant he got to watch Beat awkwardly sidle out of the building from the corner of his eye. He felt a little bad. The guy had a face like a kicked puppy as he left, but after giving Neku the fright of his life he couldn't find it in him to care too much. 

What Neku didn't notice though, what he'd been too engrossed in a forced conversation to see, was Beat on the sidewalk outside, staring down at his ice cream like it had personally offended him. He took a tentative bite from the top, only to begin coughing and spluttering immediately. In a rush to cover his mouth, the cone slipped from his hands and it hit the floor with an unceremonious splat. Perhaps he couldn't fake a love for ice cream after all.

-

A boy and a girl stood on a beach, staring at each other with longing. A swell of orchestral music. The girl leans up and they finally kiss. Roll credits. It was the same thing Beat had seen now countless times before. Yet he couldn't help the way tears welled up and spilled over, streaming down his face like a river escaping a dam. He desperately tried to stifle his hiccuped sobs with his pillow. If anyone heard that he was awake so late he would be doomed, grounded and unable to see Neku for at least a month. That couldn't be allowed to happen.

But dammit! These movies were too darn romantic! All fluff and happiness in the end no matter how many hardships the characters faced in order to be together. No one had ever told Beat love was such a powerful thing. He felt as though he had fifteen years worth of catching up to do. No matter though, as he was already well on his way to having a dramatic love story of his own. Today had gone so well, after all! He'd managed to compliment Neku on his clothes and his name, and even almost his hair. But that could be for another time. For now, Beat felt ready to move onto other, better things. 

He reached for his phone, intending to call Shiki so he could tell her how it went and then ask for her advice once again, but hesitated once he caught a glimpse of the time. Two in the morning, on a Thursday. She most definitely would not be awake. He felt a little bad then. As soon as he got home that night, he'd bounded up the stairs to continue his research session/movie marathon, thoughts so utterly fogged up with bliss that he forgot to do anything he was supposed to. Even his parents seemed disturbed. They'd quizzed him about his sudden mood swing over dinner, and he couldn't even find it in him to care. So surely, this was enough to warrant telling Shiki about it. 

Oh well. He'd tell her tomorrow. For now he needed to think of someone else to call, and he mindlessly scrolled through his contacts once again. Only one person came to mind. The only person Beat knew who was careless enough to be awake and weird enough to be willing to listen to his strange request. And that person was none other than Joshua.

To be honest, Beat didn't really know how he and Joshua had ended up becoming friends. Sure, they'd been partnered up for a science project last year, but Beat's work ethic left a lot to be desired and most people he got paired with wound up hating his guts. Joshua never did though. That project was the only thing Beat had ever gotten an A on in his life, and Joshua had demanded he be taken out for ramen as a token of gratitude. From there, their meet-ups ended up becoming a regular thing. The guy was more than a little strange, but nice enough and he knew a lot of stuff about a lot of things. Surely, he would be the help Beat was looking for. 

The line only rang out once before Joshua picked up, "well, hello there, Daisukenojo."

"Don't call me that, yo! Y'know I don't like it."

"Sorry, sorry," he said with a mischievous giggle. "Call it force of habit. Anyway, why are you calling me at this hour? Surely you would normally be in bed?"

"Aight, so hear me out on this one please, Josh." He took a breath, bracing himself for ridicule. "So there's this guy..."

"Oh, my..."

"Yo, shut it!" He was already beginning to regret calling Joshua. The kid could be so conniving and snide at times. It was one of his many quirks, and while Beat had gotten used to it over time he absolutely did not need that kind of attitude. Nonetheless, Joshua remained his only option, and so he pressed on, "anyways, there's this boy. I wanna let him know I'm into him, but I dunno how. Was hopin' you would gimme somethin' to work with."

Another laugh followed. Beat felt heat rising up his neck. "Don't you worry, mister. I know exactly what you can try, because I'm assuming you haven't already: pick-up lines."

Those were not something Beat could say he was familiar with. The movies he'd been watching had mentioned them a few times before, but he didn't quite understand what they were or what they entailed. Or how they would help him at all. 

His silence prompted Joshua to continue. "I take it you don't know what those are. Oh, how I'd love to live in your world. Beat," he said as he heaved a dramatic sigh.

"Thanks, I guess."

"Not a compliment! Anyways, a pick-up line is something you say to someone when you really want them to know you're interested. For example: you could say something like 'did it hurt when you fell from heaven,' to imply that the boy is an angel or like-"

Beat didn't like that. For one, Neku was (presumably) not an angel. He doubted a heavenly being would spend his time serving customers in a failing ice cream parlour. Two, even if he were an angel that would be a horribly rude thing to ask someone. Falling from heaven sounded traumatic as anything, and it obviously would be painful. No need to pry over something like that. 

"-so you have to use ones that would fit the scenario. Now, I don't know where you met this boy but I'm assuming it's not school or anywhere classy. It is you, after all. So maybe you could try-'

Something that fit the scenario? Like an ice cream related thing? Beat couldn't think of anything less romantic if he tried. But then again, it did make sense. Ice cream was the only thing he really knew about Neku, so he didn't have many other options. It would have to do. He wracked his brain for ideas while Joshua prattled on in the background... Icy? Sugary? Sticky? Nope. None of those would work. His brain drew a blank.

"Hello? Are you even listening to me here? What was the last thing I said, hm?"

"Oh. I, uh..."

An exasperated sigh; Beat could practically hear Joshua's frustrated pout. "Listen. I'll let you practice with me, how does that sound? I don't want you making an utter fool of yourself in front of that poor boy. But you will owe me a bowl of ramen for this."

And so they did practice, with Joshua giving Beat some general ideas of what to say. Most of these were entirely too humiliating for Beat to ever repeat out loud, but he took the few he did like and managed to modify them into something that would fit his situation. By the time the clock struck three in the morning and the pair said their goodbyes, Beat felt like he had a pretty good arsenal. Tomorrow would work out, just as today did, and soon Neku would notice him. Or so he hoped.

-

Neku found himself struggling to stay conscious as he watched the seconds tick by on the clock. The day felt like a disaster already. Not only had the radio decided to self-destruct this morning, ridding him of a desperately needed distraction, but he also hadn't slept for more than three hours. Last night he'd laid wide awake in bed, tossing and turning to try and find some form of comfort. Nothing worked. In the end he'd settled for staring at the ceiling, praying to anything that would listen to allow his tiredness to take him over and lull him into the sweet release of sleep. Sure, it happened eventually. But time stops for no one and soon enough the incessant buzzing of his alarm clock yanked him back to his senses again. Really, it felt a tad unfair. Because the reason he couldn't sleep was that he'd been thinking about someone. A blonde-haired, blue-eyed, irritatingly tall dumbass of a someone. And he genuinely didn't know why.

At some point during his morning routine, Neku had managed to convince himself it was because Beat terrified him. No one needed to be that tall. No one needed to be that loud. All around, he was everything Neku had to see in a person to be intimidated by them. But when the clock stuck one, his half-awake mind pondered over the possibility of Beat returning soon. His eyes slipped shut. Maybe it would be nice if he came back, he thought. And then, wow, talk about being desperate for something to do. It would not be nice if he came back. Neku didn't want that in the slightest. Then-

The door slammed open. The whole store seemed to shake with the force. The ugly clanging sound of the abused bell rang out, and a startled Neku fell backwards from his chair, only narrowly avoiding slamming his head onto the tile floor below. A wave of embarrassment rushed through him. He scrambled to his feet, only to be greeted by Beat, who had made his way over to the counter and was peering over it, evidently distressed. 

"You alright? I'm so sorry for scarin' you like that, man! I didn't think you'd be sleepin'." His voice was filled with concern. It made Neku feel a little bad, but then again maybe it could be considered payback for yesterday.

He crossed his arms over his chest and huffed. "I wasn't sleeping. I wouldn't do that on the job. I was just spaced out, is all."

"Your eyes was closed."

"Nah. Quit imagining things. Anyways, what'll it be today, Beat?"

Said boy looked down into the freezer, appearing to be deep in thought for a minute as he scanned over the labels. Neku followed his eyes with vague curiosity, and swiftly pretended he wasn't doing that as Beat looked up.

"Uh... This one got raisins?" He said, pointing to perhaps the most full container in the entire store: rum and raisin flavour.

"It does indeed. Interesting choice. Is that what you want?" Neku grabbed the metal scoop from the counter, but an answer never came.

"D-Does it got any... dates in it?" Beat spoke through gritted teeth, struggling to form words. 

Neku blinked back at him. He was acting strange to say the least (since when did any ice cream have dates in it?). But then again, this guy was always acting strange. Nothing to be concerned about. "Hm? No, there's no dates in it. It's just normal rum and raisin."

He watched as Beat's face turned colour, flushing to a bright red like that of a cherry sorbet. His eyes screwed shut, fists clenched, looking as if he were fighting a great battle in that head of his. Neku was suddenly reminded that he'd seen this stance yesterday, as Beat had rammed the door down and loudly announced his love for a work uniform. 

"So, d'you like d-dates?" He eventually managed. Now what was so difficult about that? All that stuttering and bizarre tensing just to ask if Neku liked a particular fruit. I mean, given, dates were pretty unpopular as far as fruits go, but it was nothing to get overly worked up about. 

"I dunno. Never really tried them. Do you want the ice cream though? I can give you a discount! Not even I eat that one!" He laughed and Beat nodded, still not daring to open his eyes.

An air of awkwardness loomed over the two, threatening to snap at any minute. The silence in the room felt heavy, and Neku could've sworn it was warmer than usual. He tugged at his collar a little before setting to work. 

He needed to say something. Anything at all that might make Beat stop looking so... like that. He wracked his brain as much as he could, but nothing hit him until he'd finished.

"So, you must really like ice cream to come here every day, huh?"

"No. I don't." Beat swiped the cone from his hands and then turned to leave. He marched stiffly out of the door, onto the street, and then stopped a few feet away from the storefront. Neku could do no other than watch as Beat tossed his ice cream directly into the trash and trudged away, not looking back even once. 

Was this distress? Anger? Confusion? Or perhaps a strange mix of all three? Neku couldn't tell. What he did know, however, was that he absolutely, never ever wanted Beat to come back. Not in the slightest. 

-

Things had felt... off recently in the Bito household. While it had certainly never been terrible there, Rhyme felt it was safe to say that the general mood of her family had been lifted over the past few days. And it was obvious as to why. Her brother's attitude had done a complete 180 seemingly overnight. He'd been coming home late into the evening, all smiles and warmth, and giggling to himself over nothing at the dinner table. Even her parents could tell something was up. She'd heard them whispering something about a potential girlfriend in the morning, and while that wasn't exactly a far cry from her own suspicions, she knew for a fact that they were wrong. Beat was always far too distracted by cute boys to ever be interested in having a girlfriend. But a boyfriend? Was likely. So when he stumbled into her room that night, declaring that he was in love and needed advice on what to do, instead of being surprised Rhyme immediately began to try and deduce who it could possibly be. 

Her mind drifted to all of Beat's friends, the ones she knew of anyway, trying to picture him developing deeper feelings for any of them. It took little time for all of them to be ruled out. People like Joshua were not her brother's type at all. She then moved on to analysing his recent behaviour.

Two nights ago, he'd asked Rhyme if he could borrow some of her DVDs, shyly adding in that he was particularly interested in trying out things in the romance genre. At the time, she hadn't thought much of it. Although he didn't really look it, Beat was the type to enjoy those sorts of stories. He'd always been a big sap deep down. But now with hindsight she also noticed that his request coincided with his change in demeanour. Coincidentally, two nights ago he'd also asked her what the best flavour of ice cream was over dinner, looking extremely deep in thought as he chewed on a piece of cabbage. And the day prior, they'd met a boy. The puzzle pieces all fell together.

"Ohh... It's the ice cream boy..."

"Wh-?!" Beat took a step back, covering his mouth with his hands. His face dusted pink. "How'd you know that?!"

"You mean I was right?"

"Dammit! Yeah. The ice cream boy," he said, defeated. "Listen, Rhyme, I really need help here. I been goin' over there every damn day tryna talk to him and he still don't know I'm into him but like, I'm almost outta money and I don't get my allowance for another week and like what if-"

Rhyme raised a hand to cut him off. "Wait hold on, what's money got to do with this? Surely you haven't been taking the train into the city every day."

"Oh, naw. I been buyin' an ice cream from him every time I go."

"But," a pause. "You don't like ice cream."

He nodded, "yeah, I jus' throw it away afterwards. I jus' wanna see Neku is all." 

Rhyme couldn't believe what she was hearing. She loved her brother very dearly. She would never say anything out loud if she thought it might upset him. But her thoughts were private and by God was this boy stupid. She pinched the bridge of her nose, completely exasperated.

"Beat, you shouldn't waste perfectly good food like that, you know?"

"What else was I s'posed to do?!" He cried, indignant at receiving a lecture from his little sister. Granted, that was practically the opposite of what he'd come here for, but he still needed to be told his actions were inane. In the nicest way possible, of course.

"You do realise he exists outside of his workplace? Ask him for his number, silly. Then you can talk whenever you like."

Beat opened his mouth to argue, but could find nothing to say in response. All that left his mouth was, "oh," before he stood for a moment, arms crossed. And then slumped. "I'm so stupid, yo."

Rhyme giggled and threw herself back onto the bed, rolling onto her stomach. "Just a little bit, bro. But it's no matter. I'm sure the ice cream boy loves it~."

She grinned at the way Beat sputtered at that, trying and failing yet again to come up with a good comeback to her taunting. The boy at the ice cream shop wasn't someone she knew personally, but she secretly hoped he would be able to handle the intense nature of her brother. It would be nice if things could stay as happy as they were, even for a little while. 

-

Beat was dumb. He was tall, and stupid, and menacing, and too strong, and too cute, and brawny, and- Wait, cute? No. He wasn't cute at all. Neku did not think Beat, or anything about him, was cute. Nor did he spend any time thinking about him. The fact that he'd sent yet another night lay awake and staring at the ceiling was entirely unrelated.

He let out a frustrated huff, pulling out his phone and flicking over to the music folder. Since the catastrophe with the radio, Neku figured that instead of wasting his very limited tip money on buying a new one, he would be far better off pirating some songs online and cramming them onto his phone's memory card. That way he could listen to whatever he liked instead of the trash they played over the waves.

Maybe he didn't think that one through too well though. He pressed play on his favourite song but the speakers on his old phone simply couldn't keep up with the heavy metal guitar riffs, distorting them beyond recognition. So that had been a waste of his time. And he'd probably installed so much malware on his mom's computer too! Perhaps the tip money he'd saved up could go towards bribing her instead.

The clock ticked incessantly in the now quiet store. Neku looked over. It was lunchtime. Surely after yesterday Beat wouldn't be coming back any time soon. If his freak-out over dates had given Neku, of all people, second-hand embarrassment then he could only imagine how humiliating it must've been for the guy himself. Although it did seem as though Beat was used to being in those sorts of situations, so maybe it was actually okay. And if it was okay, maybe he would be back. 

Irritatingly, Neku's eyes fell to the glass storefront, watching and waiting. He didn't want to admit it, but a small part of him looked forward to Beat's visits. They were good distractions from the monotonous routine of sitting there, behind the counter, staring as the seconds passed him by. If there were more customers he doubted he'd be even half as appreciative. 

Something appeared on the other side of the street outside, catching Neku's eye and interrupting his internal monologue. The thing looked to be approaching fast. Very fast. He squinted, leaning over the counter to get a better view, and quickly realised that the thing was actually a person. In fact, a certain someone. Beat, sprinting across the road as fast as his legs would carry him, looking menacing as ever and eyes filled with a sort of determination Neku hadn't seen from them before.

The door slammed open. The entire storefront shuddered with the force. The abused bell threw itself from it's perch on the door frame, landing on the tile floor with a final wail of deafeat. Neku didn't even flinch.

The boy in the doorway flashed a grin. "Hi! S'up?"

"Dude, if you slam the door open any harder you'll shatter the whole front of the store. Don't do that by the way. We can't afford to replace it." He crossed over from behind the counter to retrieve the bell. If he didn't fix that later it would definitely be coming out of his paycheck. 

"Heh, sorry. Guess I didn't notice." 

"It's fine. You know for next time now," Neku replied, but then stopped. Next time? Would there be a next time? He didn't even think there would be a This Time. "Why're you here, man? You change your mind about ice cream overnight or something? Or did you miss me that much?" He smirked as he added the latter comment, expecting a laugh, but Beat didn't so much as smile. In fact, he was doing the screwy eyes thing again. Weird.

Neku decided to leave him to it while he tried to find whatever words he needed. The guy clearly had some issues with speech. No judgement. He placed the bell on the glass counter-top and pulled out a cloth from a drawer. The thing looked dirty. Maybe less money would be deducted from his pay if he cleaned it up a little.

"...nd one..." Beat mumbled something inaudibly from behind him.

"Hm? Can you speak up a little?"

"It was the second one. I missed you."

Oh. That... wasn't at all what he'd thought he would hear. He turned around, expecting to see Beat grinning, but his face seemed deadly serious. 

He coughed awkwardly and went back to polishing. "Uh? Thank you, I guess?"

"...'N I want your phone number. Uh. Please?" 

"Wait, wait, wait... Are you saying that you-? I-?"

"I'm sorry, dude, this is so freakin' weird! I know!" He lamented, covering his eyes with the back of his arm. "'S jus' you're so cute 'n when I saw you that first time I kept thinkin' 'bout how I could talk to you more, or let you know I was into you, or somethin'! I don't like ice cream, I never have! That's prob'ly offensive to a guy who works in an ice cream shop but I gotta be honest. I jus' think you're really pretty and your hair reminds me of cat ears and I wanna hang out more. Ah, no wait. I said way too much. I'm so sorry!"

Tears began to run down Beat's cheeks as Neku rushed to try and play catch-up in his mind. Beat, apparently, had a massive crush on him and he'd been utterly clueless to his plight this whole time. Momentarily, he felt like a complete jackass for not realising sooner. But how was he supposed to have known? No one told him this! Beat should've just been honest from the start.

Or maybe he had been honest. Neku was just too dumb to figure it out. As Beat continued to weep freely, everything clicked together in Neku's mind. The weird compliments, coming in every day despite a clear rejection the first time, always trying to make small-talk, the blushing, the stuttering....

"Oh my God... The dates..." He slapped his face into his palm. Man, he was dense...

Beat groaned and buried his face further into his arm. "I'm such an idiot..."

"Yes. Yes, you are, Beat. But," Neku shuffled over and pulled the arm from over Beat's face. He met his tear-filled eyes with a slight smile. "Maybe... Just a little bit. I think you're cute too. And maybe I'll give you my phone number so you can take me someplace you actually like. Maybe."

Beat nodded wordlessly, afraid if he opened his mouth he'd hiccup a sob before he could stop himself. He liked that idea. The thought of taking Neku to his favourite ramen shop filled him with a feeling of elation. He felt it a shame that it didn't show on his face. 

The pair exchanged numbers without saying much beyond what was needed, but when they were done Neku was sure he could see the ghost of a smile tugging at the edge of Beat's lips. Now that he found it was a good time to be honest with himself, he could admit it. Beat's smile was lovely. Infectious, bright and terribly cute. Like a puppy.

Another of Beat's expressions happened to be cute too. Neku smirked, grabbing Beat's arm as he turned to leave. If he stretched and stood up on the tip of his toes, their heights weren't so different after all. This height was perfect. Leaning in, he lightly planted a kiss on Beat's cheek, taking delight at the way his whole body tensed up at the sensation. When he fell back, he took a good look at Beat's face. Entirely pink, lips pursed and eyes wide as saucers. He giggled to himself as he made his way back to the counter.

"I'm free on Saturday, if you wanna go somewhere! Oh, and just an FYI. I do happen to like dates. Especially those with cute boys."

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me @CherriKai I promise I have better ideas sometimes


End file.
